Can Pavel Zacha ever become a player that impacts the New Jersey Devils in a positive way?
When the New Jersey Devils drafted Pavel Zacha with the sixth-overall pick, they believed he could one day be a top-six center. Since then, he hasn’t developed as much as they thought he would and two number-one overall picks have pushed him down the lineup. Now, people question his abilities overall, but there is still plenty of reasons to believe that he can be an impactful NHL player if put in the right role.
On Monday night, we saw both Dominik Kubalik and Victor Olofsson be named to the National Hockey League’s All-Rookie team. Most New Jersey Devils fans would happily take both of them on the team, but think about this. They are both a whole two years older than Zacha, so you would think they are farther along in their development. Zacha was thrust into the NHL without as much development as some of the other players similar to him in age.
He may or may not ever be as impactful as those two guys named but you never know. Those two years of experience could prove to go a long way in his development. He is only 23 years old and still could emerge a little bit more for this team.
In 2019-20, he really finished strong with Nikita Gusev and Jesper Bratt on his wings. We don’t know if that trio is going to play together again next year, but you have to assume that they will get a chance. If Nico Hischier and Jack Hughes are each able to center two good scoring lines, then they will be three lines deep.
Last season, he had eight goals and 24 assists for 32 points in 65 games. That is a 40-point pace over 82 games. Those 40 points don’t grow on trees and we don’t even know if that is his ceiling yet. If he were able to ever be a 50 point man, the Devils would be in good shape. This upcoming season is going to be big for him and learning who he is as a player.
A lot of fans like to hate on Zacha because of where he was drafted. He was the sixth overall pick in the draft but he is never going to be the sixth-best player from the class. The thing is, he is a decent bottom-six forward that can contribute at the NHL level. The faster that fans just accept him for what he is, the faster the fans will be able to understand his value. Even when you are drafting in the top-ten, you are not even close to being a lock to get an NHL player that will play as long as Zacha has and is going to.